Jack Purtell

John Michael Purtell (1921 – 8 March 2017) was an Australian jockey who rode three Melbourne Cup winners.

Career

Purtell, also known as 'Gentleman Jack’, rode his first race in 1936 at the age of 15. Purtell rode more than 1700 winners including three Melbourne Cups. He was suspended only once. The best horse he rode was Comic Court to 19 wins even though he opted not to ride it in the 1950 Melbourne Cup. In January 1953, he suffered severe head injuries in a race fall at Caulfield Racecourse.

Purtell rode Fighting Force when it triple dead-heated with both Pandie Sun and Ark Royal in the 1956 Hotham Handicap, a rare event in racing.

He retired in 1966 at the age of 45 and he became a Stipendiary Steward at the Victorian Racing Club until March 1981. He died on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland on 8 March 2017, aged 95.

He was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2004. A sculpture of Purtell by John Frith is held by the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

Major wins Melbourne Cup – Hiraji (1947), Wodalla (1953), Rising Fast (1954) Cox Plate – Alister (1950), Bronton (1951), Rising Fast (1954), Ray Ribbon (1956) Caulfield Cup – Velocity (1941)